Tuesday, 16 August 2011

How 'bling' does that look?!! Very 'Beyonce' if you ask me, which is strange given my complete indifference to R 'n' B, and lack of it on the EP, or any of my EPs for that matter. So the cover art may not match the great mix of tracks on the EP but I'm sure you'll enjoy it nevertheless as once again five of the country's best up-and-coming bands have been kind enough to contribute a track. You know the drill by now, but if not, click the cover art to get your free download. Here's the five cracking bands on KEP#14...

"This is one of the first songs Black International ever rehearsed. The lyrics had popped into my head fully formed one night when I was in that weird dream zone between being awake and asleep, and luckily I kept a notepad beside my bed in case of any nocturnal revelations. It's intentionally 'dumb' musically, and the words are a tongue in cheek vignette about a couple forging a relationship in the midst of cultural decline, or something like that. We recorded this demo in 2008, and it was dropped from the set not long after, never to return. I still quite like the economy of it, the whole thing's done and dusted in under 2 minutes, almost child-like in its simplicity. A little piece of bubblegum pop." - Stewart Allan (Black International)

2. Negotiations. - Tiger Heartbeat (Third time Mr. Healy has contributed, and it's another belter. This time with a cracking cover of mitchell museum.)

"I normally play in Loch Awe, but here's something completely different. I played everything on this. Thanks to Mitchell Museum for letting me cover their incredible song, and to Oliver Roditi for his invaluable help with mixing." - Matthew Healy (Negotiations.)

3. Aerials Up - I Am ('Tis my great pleasure to bring you this amazing live version of this unreleased track.)

"We didn't have a demo version of 'I Am' so we decided to get a live recording, pretty soon after it was written a few months ago. It was our first proper attempt at writing a love song. We'd tried before, but it always came across as a bit cheesy or cliched. But this time we got started with a few good lyrics, a couple of nice riffs and it all came together from there." - Aerials Up

"This was one of three we recorded off the cuff. We usually get a rough idea of a song then go about destroying it until we're happy. This one seemed a little too sentimental and fragile to put it to the guillotine as it may have killed it stone dead, so we left it as it is. And as it is it didn't seem to fit anywhere on the album. So there you have it." - Jamie (Edinburgh School For The Deaf)

5. The Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse - Or My Bones (My love and admiration for this strange, strange man have no bounds! Another 90-seconds of perfect, acoustoblasting pop joy.)

"As a man of the hoof, I believe we all have cracks in our universes, some too small to see with the naked eye, some so big we can fit someone else's universe in it tenfold. A universe can present you with opportunity and cover you in awesome sauce or it can swallow you whole and leave you to clean up your own dribble while the shithawks peck at your eyes. This track is leaning towards the pecking of my eyes and that's why you may find me, or my bones, in the sea." - Ray (The Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse)

Not too shabby if I don't say so myself! As always, it's FREE, so head on over to my bandcamp page now to get your download. Have a wee look at the other 13 while you're at it!

Next month there'll be more of the same, five great free tracks from Scotland's finest! If any bands out there fancy making my life that wee bit easier by volunteering a track for one of these EPs, then send me a wee email too and see if it tickles my fancy. Enjoy!